The present invention relates to a manufacturing technique for a semiconductor device, and more specifically, to a technique effectively applied to a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device that includes a step of separating a semiconductor wafer to obtain a plurality of semiconductor chips.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-96767 (Patent Document 1), Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-138177 (Patent Document 2), and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-170822 (Patent Document 3) describe methods for grinding the backside of a wafer to leave an outer convex peripheral part in the form of a ring surrounding a device region.
Patent Document 1 discloses a method that involves cutting out the device region from the outer peripheral part and then grinding the backside of the device region. Furthermore, Patent Document 2 discloses a method that involves grinding the backside of a wafer to leave its outer peripheral part, and then separating the device region from the outer peripheral part by a laser and a cutting blade with an adhesive tape attached to the backside of the wafer. Moreover, Patent Document 3 discloses a method that involves grinding the backside of a wafer to leave its outer peripheral part, and then separating the device region from the outer peripheral part by means of a cutting blade in contact with the front surface side of the wafer with an adhesive tape attached to the backside of the wafer.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-19126 (Patent Document 4) discloses a method that involves cutting an outer peripheral of a wafer with a first blade in a circular shape, and polishing an outer peripheral wall of the wafer with a second blade.